


a mark of wisdom

by achievingelysium



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Book 2: The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson), Canon-Compliant, Drabble, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, POV Annabeth Chase, Sirens, Tumblr Prompt, annabeth cries and then i cry and then YOU cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achievingelysium/pseuds/achievingelysium
Summary: There was no sirensong here. There was no sprawling cityscape, each building an ode to a great architect she had read in her books. No smell of sweet, eternal summer.Just— Percy, and the cold, uncaring ocean.Or, Annabeth, Percy, and a bubble under the ocean.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 103





	a mark of wisdom

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was: safe.

In the end, she didn’t feel wiser. 

That was supposed to be what happened. Annabeth was supposed to be wiser. That was what had happened in the myths, to those who’d lived to tell the tale; in all the shimmering images Chiron had conjured for her younger mind, how the edges of deep desire and danger blurred, and when the veil of the Sirens’ song lifted you knew something about yourself you hadn’t before. 

In the end, Annabeth hadn’t been strong enough. 

What happened was different than every plan, every careful calculation. What happened was Annabeth had seen everything she had ever wanted.

Home. Family. 

Dad was there. He looked like the way he did before she’d run away. Soft around the edges. Like the first summer she’d stayed at Camp Half-Blood, the letter he’d sent, pleading. I want you to come home. 

Mom was there, too. Annabeth barely knew her. The only piece Annabeth remembered, the only thing she carried—her invisibility cap, a gift, and the sound of a warm voice saying,  _ my daughter _ . Annabeth was claimed, chosen, wanted.

And… Luke. 

He was holding his arms out. He wasn’t the bitter, angry Luke Percy described to Chiron in the woods, willing to kill her friend. He was the Luke Annabeth knew he still was, deep down. He was the Luke who had carried her, who made her feel safe, who knelt down and promised her family. 

The fight left her. 

Annabeth wanted it all back so hard it hurt. Percy was soundless as Annabeth’s mind cleared and the reality sank back in; and he was the only person who stayed; and Annabeth threw herself into his arms at the bottom of the ocean and cried. 

There was no sirensong here. There was no sprawling cityscape, each building an ode to a great architect she had read in her books. No smell of sweet, eternal summer. 

Just— Percy, and the cold, uncaring ocean. 

The water shifted around them. Percy held her, and she hated that she wanted him to be Luke, or Dad, instead. She heaved against Percy’s shoulder. 

He couldn’t hear her when she whispered, “I want to go home.” 

Instead Percy’s arm just tightened around her. Like he knew anyway. 

That home never existed; that family wasn’t real. At some point Annabeth stopped crying and just knelt there, face pressed to Percy’s shoulder, letting the warmth of him comfort her. Was this wisdom? An ugly truth in an unending ocean? 

She pulled back. Scrubbed at her face. 

Percy kept holding onto her. His brow was crinkled as he watched her sniffle and piece herself back together. Suddenly Annabeth was grateful for him. She remembered hating him, screaming at him to let go, kicking and fighting as he’d dragged her back from the rocks and into the briny sea. Pulling deeper and deeper, away from the song, away from the visions. 

He didn’t say  _ you’re family,  _ or  _ you’re home.  _ He didn’t say  _ you’re safe _ , but Annabeth felt it, holding onto him. 

“I’ll get us back to the ship,” Percy told her, still looking, “It’s okay. Just hang on.” 

He’d saved her. He’d pulled her back. And he was reminding her, still, that maybe he was different—maybe Percy could be someone she could hold on to. 

Percy was waiting for a response, so Annabeth nodded. Wiped at her eyes again. 

“Thank you, Percy,” Annabeth murmured, and his expression didn’t change. Maybe he hadn’t heard her; she’d needed to say it, anyway. 

Percy wrapped his arms around her, and she was too tired and aching to do anything but put her face to his shoulder again and let him carry her. They shot through the water, and Annabeth distantly marvelled at the speed and the depth they’d been at. Bubbles trailed. She breathed. He’d done that for her. 

When they got back to the ship, Percy half-dragged her aboard. Annabeth curled against the side. Above water there was almost nothing, yet if Annabeth strained her ears she heard the distant sound of shriek-singing. The bubble had burst. Now she felt used, unwanted. 

Percy disappeared below deck then came back with a blanket. He stood over her, staying close as the ship sailed further and further away. 

Finally the Sirens disappeared from sight. The island, a dark mass of rock, slipped below the horizon, and the last of Annabeth’s deepest desires sank underneath it. 

She looked up at Percy, his ears still plugged and the shape of him silhouetted against the blue sky, and mouthed  _ safe.  _

As Annabeth said it, she meant the Sirens were gone, and there would be no danger from their song so far removed. Percy took out the wax. He was looking at her the way he had in the bubble—concerned, sad, protective. Her friend.

Later she would think of the way he had held her under the ocean, and realize Percy made her feel safe. 

But for now Annabeth tugged the blanket tighter around her shoulders, her hands trembling, the only mark of wisdom the boy in front of her. 

**Author's Note:**

> aahsdggsahhawang annabeth makes me weep
> 
> Tumblr: [queenangst](http://queenangst.tumblr.com)


End file.
